Cruising the Caribbean
April 1997
- San Juan -

Of course we took a tour of San Juan, both old and New. Old San Juan actually is on an island, and is where the cruise ships dock. Modern San Juan is about like any other tropical city, with the usual franchise everything.

The ritzy tourist area is in an area of modern San Juan called Condado, and Condado beach is quite famous. Here are Angie and Rhona on our brief stop at the fringe of Condado beach.

We didn't have enough time to do much more than traipse down to the beach and take a few pictures. One of the nice tourist hotels is shown in the background.

From the ship San Cristóbal fort is the most visible landmark in Old San Juan, sitting high above the city on the Eastern End of the Island. The fort is massive and quite impressive. The Spanish decided they had better protect the land approach to the island after a sneak attack on 13 November 1595 by Sir Francis Drake who managed to loot one of King Philip II's treasure ships in the harbor.

El Morro fort protects the entrance to the harbor on the Western end of the island. The two forts are tied together by an extensive tunnel system.

This is a view of the docks, and our ship looking back from the city walls just west of the docks. The entire island had an extensive fortified stone wall around it.

The streets are paved in cobblestones which were ballast on the treasure ships arriving from Europe in the 1500's. Space is at such a premium that most telephone poles are on top of the buildings as there is little or no space available on the streets or sidewalks.

Just up the street Angie discovered the Parque de las Palomas. The shade of the trees seemed to be a favorite local hangout, with a number of men lounging under the trees. About this time Angie got a better look at the trees and discovered they were mangoes! I thought I was going to have to lasso her to keep her from climbing up there and getting some fruit. The city wall runs straight ahead to the right of the picture, and below us is the Paseo de la Princesa.

Most of the buildings in Old San Juan were built in the 16^th century, and are kept "historically correct" as much as possible. These include La Fortaleza (just to the West of where this picture was taken) which is San Juan's oldest fort, and now is the Governor's home, and Casa Blanca.

Casa Blanca is the ancestral home of the Ponce de Leon family, and now a museum of 16^th and 17^th century art and furnishings. Like most Americans, I remember learning in school that Ponce de Leon spent his time chasing after the fountain of youth in Florida. I don't ever recall learning that he was revered here as the long time governor of Puerto Rico!

Here's that Mango tree that Angie was admiring in the previous photograph! If you look closely you can see some really large mangoes about 1/3 down and 2/3 to the right side of this picture. The tree was full. We were amazed that no one seemed to be interested in picking any at all.

Looking down the street, you can see from the man walking on the sidewalk that the walks are only wide enough for one person to walk. When you meet someone has to stand in a doorway. I guess that's why the other man is walking down the street instead of the sidewalk. Parking is certainly at a premium in old San Juan, traffic jams are common, and a horn is a necessity!

While we were in Old San Juan, Angie managed to get in some shopping at one of the multitude of jewelry stores. This one is just up from the Parque de las Palomas, near La Fortaleza.

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